Did information shared by B.C.’s Environment Minister ahead of a public announcement late last month around the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion lead to unusual stock market activity?
That’s the question being raised by the BC Liberals. The party wants to know what information minister George Heyman shared about government plans to fight Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline expansion and with whom.
Environment critic Peter Milobar says Kinder Morgan lost $800 million in stock value ahead of the release of the government’s intentions late last month.
“Right now it’s looking like he was potentially sharing information that if you were a shareholder you would potentially benefit from knowing that knowledge,” said Milobar.
WATCH: Global News coverage of Trans Mountain pipeline expansion
He said multiple environmental groups, like the Sierra Club, issued detailed press releases just minutes after the news broke.
“That makes one pause to say ‘OK when did they know exactly? Ahead of time? How much impact did this have?” he said.
Milobar said that even though environmental groups may not have stocks in oil and gas companies, he said Heyman also indicated he talked to a lot of business organizations, who could’ve had stocks.
But the NDP government insists it did nothing wrong in notifying several non-profit organizations, business groups, and other levels of government about plans to study and review the expansion.
“This is a normal part of government’s interactions with organizations, and regularly took place under the previous government as well,” read a statement from the Ministry of Environment.
The statement said there’s been an “ongoing correction” in energy stocks, driven by an increase in U.S. shale production.